Couple explain why they’re so upset after winning a $4.2million home – and their brutal message for haters who say they’re ungrateful as new photos show what it’s really like inside

A couple branded “ungrateful” by millionaire businessman Adrian Portelli after winning a $4.2 million house in his lottery claim he is simply covering up his own scandalous behavior.

Kevin and Andrea Griffin have been mercilessly vilified by Australians since Portelli released edited footage of them appearing “ungrateful” as they took possession of a $4.2 million home they won in his LMCT Plus lottery.

Portelli, who has been dubbed ‘Mr Lambo’ for his bizarre display of wealth, released the footage last week after the couple claimed he took more than $100,000 worth of luxury items from the house before handing them the keys.

‘We are anything but ungrateful and we have always said so. We now even stop at the gate, look up and say, ‘Wow, that’s our house.’ For example, we own that house. We are so grateful that the dice rolled our way,” Ms. Griffin said.

Property investor Portelli said he bought the house in Gisborne, 54 kilometers northwest of Melbourne, in November after it was featured at auction on reality TV series The Block.

Following media pressure, Portelli published a selection of extracts from the handover of the property in March, which showed the couple raising questions about the swimming pool, a missing wine fridge and the quality of finishes in some rooms.

The edited video caused many Australians to see red and take to social media and news sites to vent to the apparently ungrateful couple.

On Tuesday, Portelli told Daily Mail Australia The issues highlighted by the Griffins are civil in nature and must be resolved through “appropriate legal channels.”

“We are confident in the available evidence and are fully prepared that the courts will review all aspects of this case in their entirety if the Griffins pursue a civil action that their attorneys have previously threatened but now that their issues appear to be aired through the media.” to ventilate. instead,” a spokesperson for Portelli said.

‘The terms and conditions for each competition held on our client’s website are clearly displayed to all participants, ensuring transparency and mutual understanding of the rules and expectations involved.

‘Furniture is clearly not included.’

Ms Griffin told Daily Mail Australia that Portelli and his staff had been portrayed unfairly and cruelly in the video.

The couple claimed that Portelli asked them to take note of anything in the house that needed attention and that he would provide the builder’s contact information.

“He told me I had to figure out everything that’s wrong with the house, so, ‘What, I have to go through it and take all this stuff out?’ – and that’s the comment he uses to make me look like an ungrateful person,” Mr. Griffin said.

“Leading up to all this, Portelli was making a joke about the house and he said to us, ‘I’m glad you took the house because I thought I was going to be stuck with that thing,’” Ms. Griffin said.

‘Kevin is a plasterer and if you immediately look at the ceiling, you will see that it ripples throughout the ceiling.’

Mrs. Griffin, who described the couple as “not really wine people,” said it was clear that Portelli’s crew, and an agent for Ray White, had taken thousands of dollars’ worth of wine – and even the soap dispenser.

The wine and appliances were also listed on a website where giveaway participants could take a virtual tour of the property.

Portelli says the wine and equipment were not part of the price as described in the terms and conditions.

“We hadn’t seen The Block so we didn’t know exactly what we had won… so we had the whole family around us and we all watched it together and talked about the beautiful house and everything in it,” said Mrs. Griffin.

After moving in, the Griffins quickly realized that the house was riddled with defects that needed expensive repairs before it could even be comfortably occupied.

Mr Griffin, a plasterer by trade, was recently forced to close his business as the couple relied on cash from the sale of their previous property and Mrs Griffin’s part-time job.

“It was just an absolute nightmare,” Ms Griffin said.

The couple had just 24 hours to decide whether to keep the house or receive a $3 million check instead.

“We never heard from Adrian again until the day we moved into the house,” Mrs. Griffin said.

The couple were notified on March 10 that the house officially became their property, but were told by a Portelli employee not to visit the house until they “got it in order.”

“They said they had painters and decorators, builders coming back to do stuff, it needs a good cleaning, we need to get our recording crew in for when you arrive and we were like, ‘Okay, that sounds legit,’” Ms. said Griffin.

But the Griffins maintain that what actually happened is on record CCTV installed by television network bosses to monitor the property showed items being removed from the property.

‘After Portelli left us on the day of the transfer, we noticed that more things were missing, and then I saw the cameras in the garden. I thought, ‘This is my property, these are my cameras,'” Mr. Griffin said.

‘So I got access to the cameras by scanning a code on them and downloading an app… and got access to the whole thing… we saw everything that happened on the cameras and that took the shine off the whole show gone .’

The couple claimed that Portelli had threatened to sue them for defamation if they disclosed the missing items.

Portelli said he ‘I welcome the opportunity to defend all allegations against us.”

‘We have already informed them of our reservation of the right to sue for defamation, which they were previously informed of, because they previously registered a domain name and threatened to damage the LMCT+ brand ‘, his spokesperson said.

“If the public observes the video of them behaving ungratefully, then in both cases your publication or my client, if he were supposed to publish such a comment, would have potential opportunities to defend themselves based on truth, honest opinion and other , as the video seems to do. It goes without saying how the Griffins received the relevant award during their passage.’

The couple continues to negotiate with builders from The Block about urgent repairs, in the hope that their dream home can be completed properly.